State Board Seeks Legal Counsel

Attorney General Is Asked To Help In Student-teacher Sex Cases

June 29, 2006|By RACHEL GOTTLIEB; Courant Staff Writer

The state Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to ask Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to weigh in on the controversial question of whether a teacher arrested for sleeping with a student has a constitutional right to privacy.

Two teachers, one from New Haven and another from Northwest Catholic High School in West Hartford, are fighting criminal charges on constitutional grounds, and state officials worry any success they have could undermine efforts to strip teaching certification from teachers who engage in sexual relations with students.

The New Haven teacher, Van McKenzie-Adams, was convicted on 13 counts of second-degree sexual assault under a statute that prohibits a teacher from having sexual relations with a student enrolled in the same school system.

He is appealing his conviction in state Supreme Court, claiming that the statute violates his state and federal constitutional right to sexual privacy, which includes the right to engage in consensual sex with people over the age of consent.

In a letter to the school board explaining the ramifications of a favorable ruling for McKenzie-Adams, Mark Stapleton, director of the state Department of Education's division of legal and governmental affairs, wrote: ``There have been a significant number of cases involving sexual contact between teachers and students in Connecticut. The statute helps to prevent these sexual incidents by banning teachers from sexually exploiting the students and providing a basis for punishing offending teachers .

``If the court were to find in McKenzie-Adams' favor, our ability to enforce our standards of professional conduct and to revoke the certification of teachers who prey on their students might be called into question.''

Blumenthal agreed to the board's request that he file a brief in the Supreme Court case on its behalf.

``State law prohibiting teachers from having sexual relationships with their high school students is constitutionally sound -- and my office will vigorously fight to uphold it in court,'' Blumenthal said, in a statement. ``Teachers must be role models and mentors -- not sexual partners -- to their students.

``There can be no constitutional defect or other successful legal challenge to a law that so clearly protects the rights of all. ''

The Supreme Court has not scheduled a date to hear arguments in the McKenzie-Adams case.

The same constitutional issues have been raised by former Northwest Catholic teacher, Matthew Glasser, who is facing eight counts of second-degree sexual assault. A date has not been set to hear arguments in a motion challenging his arrest.